They. Love. Jesus.

Imagine growing up in a town named Loserville.
Just think about that for a minute or two.

Any job application you filled out might be perfect right up until the HR rep saw where you were from and then it would go straight to the trash.

Now try to imagine the Haitian version of Loserville.
Pause a minute and ponder that.
As bad as it might be in the U.S., here in Haiti it is a hundred times worse.

That is where we went today.
Titanyen.
Translated it means Less than Nothing.

It is a place so removed from Port Au Prince that the government saw fit to dump bodies by the truckload to in a mass grave after the 2010 earthquake. It is estimated that over two hundred thousand people are buried there.

And what did we do? We visited the elders. In Haiti, as we found yesterday, the elders are no longer
useful to society and therefore are the last to eat or get things like a roof over their heads.

So today, I sat on a small piece of cardboard in a mud puddle singing Amazing Grace while members of our group rubbed lotion into the calloused hands and feet of a man named Pierre and his wife; in a village called Less Than Nothing.

We asked Pierre what he did (as in career.)  He grew a garden. He and his wife raised five children in a dirt floored, cinder block hut no bigger than 12' square. We assume he sold produce down on the highway. When they had food, they ate. When they didn't have food, they didn't eat.

I have been wondering since we got here what people did.  What do they do? There doesn't seem to be much industry nor agriculture production. There are merchants on the street selling everything a person could need, but it doesn't seem like a way to live.

My question was finally answered today by Pierre. Not when we asked him what he did. But when we asked about his relationship with God. He did not hesitate for a second. He spoke for several minutes non stop. His voice would rise and fall from heated to reverent to near laughter. And even though he did not stop to allow translation, we all stood there gap-jawed and we all knew.

What to the people of Haiti do?

They. Love. Jesus.

And I really believe Jesus loves them.

Dave Livermore